Generally, when water pipes such as water service pipes, or feed water pipes and drain pipes connected to water tanks, are used for a long period, reactive oxygen in water flowing through such a pipe reacts with iron contained in the material of the pipe, so that the inside surface of the pipe is corroded or rusted. Thus, rust or foreign substances accumulate on the inside surface of the pipe, thereby forming scale, slime, or slurry, which shortens the life span of the pipe and impedes the flow of water. In this case, there is a problem that substances such as iron oxides, impurities, bacteria, and viruses that are harmful to the human body are dissolved or mixed in the water flowing through the pipe, thus making the water unsanitary.
In order to remove unsanitary factors in pipes, a cleaning tool such as a brush is inserted into pipes to remove rust or scale. Meanwhile, when corrosion of the inside surface of a pipe is extreme, the corroded pipe is replaced with a new one to remove unsanitary factors. However, although this method can temporarily eliminate unsanitary factors, long service times, considerable labor, and large equipment are required to clean or replace corroded pipes. Furthermore, such cleaning of contaminated pipes or replacement of corroded pipes needs to be repeatedly performed in short time cycles, and thus are inefficient and incur large maintenance costs.
Therefore, to prolong the life span of a pipe and remove unsanitary factors, a pipe cleaning agent (so-called drain opener), or a water treatment apparatus using a high-frequency oscillator is used. However, the method of using a pipe cleaning agent causes problems associated with chemicals, and an apparatus such as a high frequency generator requires driving force, thereby consuming a large amount of energy, and has a complex structure.
For this reason, in recent industrial sites, an ionizing scale removing system that is a powerless eco-friendly system is used. This system includes an electrostatic generator that generates static electricity to ionize water with an electrostatic field. The generated ions purify water and clean pipes.
Ionization of water may be properly construed as molecules with electric charges. Since a material sample needs to be electrically neutral, an ionized compound includes both of positive ions (positively charged particles) and negative ions (negatively charged particles). In the case of water, ionized water contains H+ as positive ions and OH− as negative ions. Water ionization is based on Fleming's rule in which electromotive force is induced when water, a conductive material, passes through a magnetic field. That is, water H2O is ionized into H+ and OH− through reactions such as concentration, collision, etc. of ions dissolved in water, which is attributable to Lorenz electric field induced by an electric potential that is generated when water passes through an ultrahigh magnetic field (orthogonal to lines of magnetic force). This water is called ion activated water.
As a conventional art based on this principle, Patent Document 1 (Korean Patent No. 10-1326144) discloses a scale removing system for a pipe, the system including an electrostatic generation pipe, an electrostatic generator, a heat insulation unit, a housing, a first housing connection unit, and a second housing connection unit. The electrostatic generation pipe includes a hollow metal pipe arranged at a center portion thereof and first and second hollow carbon pipes connected to respective ends of the metal pipe. The electrostatic generator includes: a metal body having an inner fluid channel through which water can flow, installed in the electrostatic generation pipe, and spaced from the inside surface of the electrostatic generation pipe to provide an outer fluid channel between its outside surface and the inside surface of the electrostatic generation pipe such that water can flow through the outer fluid channel; a first carbon body having a fluid channel through which water can pass and connected to a first end of the metal body; and a second carbon body having a fluid channel through which water can pass and connected to a second end of the metal body. The heat insulation unit includes: a heat insulation pipe having an internal accommodation space to accommodate the electrostatic generation pipe in which the electrostatic generator is installed; a first cover and a second cover attached to respective ends of the heat insulation pipe; a first inflow passage formed in the first cover at a center portion thereof so as to communicate with the fluid channel of the first carbon body; a second inflow passage formed in the first cover, around the first inflow passage and at a periphery portion of the first cover, so as to communicate with the outer fluid channel provided between the inside surface of the electrostatic generation pipe and the outside surface of the electrostatic generator; a first outflow passage formed in a center portion of the second cover so as to communicate with the fluid channel of the second carbon body; and a second outflow passage formed in a periphery portion of the second cover, around the first outflow passage, so as to communicate with the outer fluid channel provided between the inside surface of the electrostatic generation pipe and the outside surface of the electrostatic generator. The housing has an internal accommodation space to accommodate the insulation member. The first housing connection unit is arranged at a first end of the housing and provided with a fluid channel that communicates with the first inflow passage and the second inflow passage of the heat insulation unit. The second housing connection unit is arranged at a second end of the housing and is provided with a fluid channel that communicates with the first outflow passage and the second outflow passage.
The scale removing system is installed in the middle of a pipe, thereby removing scale generated in the pipe which constitutes a pipe system, and inhibiting generation of scale or rust in the pipe. However, since the scale removing system includes a metal body or a metal pipe made of brass, the brass comes into contact with water flowing through the brass pipe. Therefore, heavy metals such as lead (Pb) contained in the brass are eluted and dissolved in water and organic and inorganic substances harmful to the human body are generated.
Accordingly, development of a water treatment apparatus to which new technologies for solving the above problems are applied is urgently required.